Nanotechnology R&;D Policy of Japan and Nanotechnology Support Project

In the 2nd Science and Technology Basic Plan (2001–2005), the area of nanotechnology and materials is designated one of the four prioritized areas in funding. Following this plan, Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) and Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industries (METI), the main funding ministries, and their organizations, Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS), Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST), National Institute for Materials Science (NIMS), RIKEN, New Energy and Industrial Technology Organization (NEDO), and National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST) promotes their research programs. Besides, in order to promote interdisciplinary, interorganizational, and international collaboration of researchers, Nanotechnology Support Project (NSP) was started by MEXT in 2002. The project has two missions: informational support and common use facility support. Nanotechnology Researchers Network Center of Japan is responsible for informational support, and 14 universities and national research institutes are responsible for common use facility support.     

Nanoscale Science and Engineering in Romania

In spite of difficult working conditions and with very low financial support, many groups from Romania are involved in emerging fields, such as the nanoscale science and technology. Until the last years, this activity was developed without a central coordination and without many interactions between these research groups. In the year 2000, some of the institutes and universities active in the nanotechnology field in Romania founded the MICRONANOTECH network. The aim of this paper is to emphasize the main activities and results of the Romanian groups working in this novel domain. Most of the groups are deal with the nanomaterial technology and only few of them have activities in nanostructure science and engineering, in new concepts and device modeling and technology. This paper describes the nanotechnology research development in two of the most significant institutes from Romania: Centre for Nanotechnologies from National Institute for Research and Development in Microtehnologies (IMT-Bucharest) and from National Institute for Research and Development in Materials Physics (INCD-FM), Magurele. The Romanian research results in nanotechnology field were presented in numerous papers presented in international conferences or published in national and international journals. They are also presented in patents, international awards and fellowships. The research effort and financial support are outlined. Some future trends of the Romanian nanoscale science and technology research are also described.     

In Memoriam

I sketch the rich life and multifaceted work of Philip Morrison (1915–2005), from his early life in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and higher education at the Carnegie Institute of Technology and the University of California at Berkeley, to his contributions to the Manhattan Project, his research at Cornell University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology after the war, his subsequent political activity on behalf of nuclear disarmament, his role in the search for extraterrestrial intelligence, and his enormous influence as an educator, public speaker, and writer. A.P. French is Professor of Physics, Emeritus, at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.     

Fourth ANKA and KNMF User Meeting 2012

On October 10–11, 2012, the ANKA synchrotron radiation facility and the Karlsruhe NanoMicro Facility (KNMF), both user research facilities at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) in Germany, hosted their fourth joint annual user meeting at the Ettlingen Castle. In the extraordinary ambiance of the baroque palace, the ANKA and KNMF directorates (represented by Clemens Heske and Jürgen Mohr, respectively) welcomed almost 200 participants representing universities, research facilities, and companies from 10 different countries. The meeting was kicked off by KIT Chief Science Officer Volker Saile, who emphasized the positive developments and increase in user numbers at both facilities.     

Optical Communications Research Activities at COM RD1 Siemens S.A.

This article summarizes the research activities carried out by the R&D Optical Networks Communications group (COM RD1), at Siemens S.A., in collaboration with both universities and other research institutes. These activities cover various aspects of advanced modulation formats, all optical wavelength conversion, optical quality of signal monitoring in transparent WDM networks, routing, and wavelength assignment in optical networks.     

Optical Communications Research Activities at COM RD1 Siemens S.A.

Abstract

This article summarizes the research activities carried out by the R&D Optical Networks Communications group (COM RD1), at Siemens S.A., in collaboration with both universities and other research institutes. These activities cover various aspects of advanced modulation formats, all optical wavelength conversion, optical quality of signal monitoring in transparent WDM networks, routing, and wavelength assignment in optical networks.     

Research and development at rist

Abstract

The Research Institute for Solvothermal Technology (RIST) opened in September, 1997 to carry out research related to high-temperature and high-pressure fluid technology. The RIST is unique institute specialized high pressure science and technology in Japan, and probably in the world. According to government, the institute is defined as the core facility of a West-Japan creative economic development base zone.

Nowadays, RIST has developed new technologies using supercritical fluids, especially carbon dioxide and water, in areas related to the environment, such as the treatment of organic waste, the production of new materials, such as “new-carbon” substances, materials for batteries and electromagnetic wave absorption, and in the area of energy and resources, such as the conversion or the recycling of industrial plastic waste.

A review will be given on the research and development activities at RIST. It is focused on several essential results obtained in recent investigations. Progressive joint research projects with the cooperation of enterprises, universities and government will be described.     

XAFS16 at KIT: Five Days of Cutting-Edge X-ray Science in Karlsruhe

The sixteenth international conference on X-ray Absorption Fine Structure, XAFS16, was held August 23–28, 2015, at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) in Germany. Since the first such meeting in 1981, the XAFS conference series has become the foremost international meeting covering developments and applications in X-ray absorption spectroscopy. Jointly organized by KIT, DESY (Hamburg), HZB (Berlin), and the European XFEL (Hamburg), under the auspices of the International X-ray Absorption Society (IXAS), the XAFS16 conference hosted over 550 participants (including more than 160 young scientists) from 37 different countries, establishing a new record for the number of participants. The local organization was provided by the KIT institutes INE, IKFT, and ITCP and the ANKA synchrotron facility, with Jan-Dierk Grunwaldt leading the local organizing committee.     

四川大学高温高压物理联合研究所三十年的简短历史回顾

2007年是清泉教授九十华诞之年.教授是我国原子与分子物理学界广受尊敬的著名科学家.借此机会,我们愿以简短回顾四川大学高温高压物理联合研究所三十年历程的方法,对建所以来教授通过联合高等院校与科研机构方式在合作研究与人才培养中的创举性工作致以崇高的敬意.     

Quantum structure based infrared detector research and development within Acreo’s centre of excellence IMAGIC

Acreo has a long tradition of working with quantum structure based infrared (IR) detectors and arrays. This includes QWIP (quantum well infrared photodetector), QDIP (quantum dot infrared photodetector), and InAs/GaInSb based photon detectors of different structure and composition. It also covers R&D on uncooled microbolometers. The integrated thermistor material of such detectors is advantageously based on quantum structures that are optimised for high temperature coefficient and low noise. Especially the SiGe material system is preferred due to the compatibility with silicon technology. The R&D work on IR detectors is a prominent part of Acreo’s centre of excellence “IMAGIC” on imaging detectors and systems for non-visible wavelengths. IMAGIC is a collaboration between Acreo, several industry partners and universities like the Royal Institute of Technology (KTH) and Linköping University.     

Isidor I. Rabi and CERN

Isidor I. Rabi (1898–1988) is the acknowledged “father of CERN,” today one of the most important particle-physics laboratories in the world. I explore his motives for promoting the idea in 1950 that Western Europe should build a “Brookhaven” with national governments replacing universities. I unravel the many ways in which a major accelerator facility in Geneva, Switzerland, could both stimulate European science and serve the interests of the American scientific community. Rabi was careful to avoid giving any official support to steps then under way in Europe to build a research reactor, even though Brookhaven National Laboratory on Long Island, New York, had one from the outset. I suggest that his main motive for doing so was that he wanted West Germany to be part of the collaborative venture. Rabi was well aware of the foreign-policy objectives of the U.S. State Department in the European theater in 1950, and he wanted to situate politically the new research center in the framework of the Marshall Plan for the postwar reconstruction of the continent, “remaking the Old World in the image of the New.”John Krige is Kranzberg Professor in the School of History,Technology and Society at the Georgia Institute of Technology. He has researched and published extensively on the place of science and technology in the postwar reconstruction of Western Europe, and the role of the United States therein.     

On the Šilov boundary of the vertex function

The ilov boundary of the vertex function is computed without resource to analytic completion techniques.The research reported in this document has been supported in part by the Aerospace Research Laboratories under Grant No. AF EOAR 65–80, through the European Office of Aerospace Research (OAR), U.S. Air Force.This work is part of a thesis submitted to the Senate of the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, as partial fulfilment of the requirements for a Ph.D. degree.     

Development of neutron detectors and neutron radiography at Bhabha Atomic Research Centre

Design and development of neutron detectors and R&D work in neutron radiography (NR) for non-destructive evaluation are important parts of the neutron beam and allied research programme of Solid State Physics Division (SSPD) of Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC). The detectors fabricated in the division not only meet the in-house requirement of neutron spectrometers but also the need of other divisions in BARC, Department of Atomic Energy units and some universities and research institutes in India and abroad for a variety of applications. The NR facility set up by SSPD at Apsara reactor has been used for a variety of applications in nuclear, aerospace, defense and metallurgical industries. The work done in the development of neutron detectors and neutron radiography is reported in this article.      

The STAIRRS project, work package 1: a cost-effectiveness analysis of railway noise reduction on a European scale

Noise control is a major economic factor for the railways as national and European Union environmental legislation is being enacted. In an effort to determine optimal strategies on a European level, the EU fifth framework programme has co-financed the Strategies and Tools to Assess and Implement noise Reducing measures for Railway Systems (STAIRRS) project. Work package 1 developed the necessary software to undertake large-scale cost-effectiveness analyses. The acoustically relevant geographic, traffic and track data were collected for 11 000 km of lines in seven European countries. Standard cost-benefit methodologies were adapted to fit the requirements of the project. An extrapolation mechanism allowed studies on Europe as a whole and, in an approximate manner, also on individual countries. Major conclusions are that the highest cost-effectiveness can be achieved by combining measures; freight rolling stock has a high cost-effectiveness on its own as well as in combination with other measures, especially when combined with track measures; noise barriers, in particular high ones, have a low cost-effectiveness. The conclusions for Europe as a whole are also true for individual countries. The STAIRRS project co-ordinator is the European Rail Research Institute, the work package leader is the Swiss Federal Railways with the participation of AEAT Technology (NL), German Railways, French Railways, PSI-Akustik (A), the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology and the Free University of Brussels.     

Dick Crane��s California Days

Horace Richard Crane (1907–2007) was born and educated in California. His childhood was full of activities that helped him become an outstanding experimental physicist. As a graduate student at the California Institute of Technology (1930–1934), he had the good fortune to work with Charles C. Lauritsen (1892–1968) just as he introduced accelerator-based nuclear physics to Caltech. They shared the euphoric excitement of opening up a new field with simple, ingenious apparatus and experiments. This work prepared Crane for his career at the University of Michigan (1935–1973) where in the 1950s, after making the first measurement of the electron’s magnetic moment, he devised the g−2 technique and made the first measurement of the anomaly in the electron’s magnetic moment. A man of direct, almost laconic style, he made lasting contributions to the exposition of physics to the general public and to its teaching in high schools, community colleges, four-year colleges, and universities. I tell how he became a physicist and describe some of his early achievements.     

Experimental and numerical flow visualization in a transonic turbine

This paper focuses on the visualization of both experimental and numerical results and presents research in a highly-loaded cold-flow transonic turbine under continuous and engine-representative conditions. Special focus was placed on blade row interaction at app. 10600 rpm. While the first step was the investigation of a single stage machine (stator-rotor), the second step extended the test rig to a one-and-a-half stage configuration (stator-rotor-stator). Measurements were carried out in the transonic test turbine at Graz University of Technology using Particle-Image-Velocimetry and Laser-Doppler-Anemometry. The main results of these experiments are discussed and compared to numerical simulations.     

Binary metal and semiconductor quantum dot metamaterials with negative optical dielectric constant and compensated loss for small volume waveguides,modulators and switches

We study numerically and analytically a binary mixture of quantum dots exhibiting gain and loss. For a mixture of gain quantum dots and silver nanoparticles, we find conditions when the composite shows negative dielectric constant operation and lossless operation. The composites of this kind may be used for dense integration of photonic components as well as modulation and switching in optical interconnect systems L. Thylen is also at Dept of Microelectronics and Applied Physics, Royal Institute of Technology (KTH), 164 40 Kista, Sweden.     

基于激光的光谱辐射定标

随着地面遥感、航空与航天遥感、等离子体物理、定量光谱学等研究的发展,对光谱辐射定标精度提出了越来越高的要求,推动了基于可调谐激光的光谱辐射定标新型技术的发展。国际上英国、美国、德国等国家的计量科研机构相继建立了溯源于低温辐射计、低不确定度的基于可调谐激光的光谱辐射定标装置,用于探测器、遥感仪器光谱响应度定标和特性研究。其中美国国家标准技术研究院(NIST)的均匀光源光谱辐照度和辐亮度响应度定标装置(SIRCUS)和德国物理技术研究院(PTB)的光度学可调谐激光装置(TULIP)最具代表性。相对于灯-单色仪系统,在辐射定标应用中,基于激光的光谱辐射定标具有光谱带宽窄、波长精度高、定标不确定度低等众多优点。本文介绍了基于激光的光谱辐射定标的发展状况和以英国国家物理实验室(NPL)、NIST和PTB为代表的基于激光的辐射定标装置结构与性能,分析了基于激光的光谱辐射定标技术优势,并进一步阐述了此技术的应用。基于激光的光谱辐射定标装置可广泛应用于重要的高精度系统级辐射定标测量,包括亮度温度、空间遥感仪器辐照度和辐亮度定标,推动航空航天、大气物理、光谱学、生物科学等科研、工业领域的发展。     

Continuous-wave mid-infrared intracavity singly resonant optical parametric oscillator based on periodically poled lithium niobate

This paper reports a continuous-wave （CW） mid-infrared intracavity singly resonant optical parametric oscillator based on periodically poled lithium niobate （PPLN） pumped by a diode-end-pumped CW Nd：YVO4 laser. Considering the thermal lens effects, it adopted an optical ballast lens and the near-concentric cavity for better operation. At the PPLN＇s grating period of 28.5 μm and the temperature of 140℃, the maximum idler output power of 155 mW at 3.86 μm has been achieved when the 808 nm pump power is 8.5 W, leading to an optical-to-optical conversion efficiency of 1.82%.     

Alvin Van Valkenburg and the diamond anvil cell

Abstract

As many of you may know already, Alvin Van Valkenburg died on December 5, 1991 in Tucson, Arizona at the age of seventy-eight. He was the last surviving scientist of four who share the honor of co-inventing the diamond anvil high pressure cell (DAC), now recognized as a world-class instrument for scientific research. In August of 1992 Professor A. Ruoff asked me to write a short article for AIRAPT describing Van Valkenburg's role in inventing the DAC because of its importance as a tool in high pressure research. He suggested that as a former colleague and as a scientist who has spent most of his professional career in high pressure research, I was perhaps the one person who could describe best the role Van Valkenburg played in the invention and development of the DAC. After some deliberation, I agreed to do it, mainly for three reasons: (1) the subject matter, indeed, is important to the history of science, and, in particular, to the high pressure community and should be documented; (2) all four co-inventors deserve the honor; and (3) it is true perhaps that there is no one more appropriate to undertake this task because I was at the National Bureau of Standards, NBS, (now the National Institute of Standards and Technology, NIST) at the time and personally witnessed the process of the invention of the DAC.